Commercial Parking Stuck in Neutral

By Gene Williams
Staff Writer

February 22 -- Jack Lopez has only worked at McCabe’s Guitar Shop for a month, but every day when he drives into Santa Monica he says, "There's got to be a better way."

It's not that Lopez doesn't like his job. It's the parking hassle that's got him down.

Like many small businesses on Pico Boulevard, McCabe’s has only a few parking spaces behind the store -- not nearly enough for all of its employees -- and you can only park for two hours at meters and on residential streets.

Less than a block away, Jolianne is making a hot chocolate for a customer at the UnUrban, a coffee house near Centinela Avenue. When asked what she and her coworkers do for parking Jolianne answers, "We complain about it. We park on the street and get tickets; that's what we do."

And so Lopez, Jolianne and hundreds of other Pico area employees leave work several times a day, either to feed the parking meters, or to shuffle their cars around on the nearby side streets, where parking is restricted without a residential permit.

"There's friggin' nowhere to go basically," says Jolianne, who declined to give her last name.

But the lack of employee parking along Pico -- and many other parts of Santa Monica -- isn't just a problem for the businesses. It's also a political headache for City officials caught in a bind between commercial and residential interests.

At the center of their troubles is a controversy surrounding a possible City pilot program that would grant a limited number of day-use permits for employee parking on residential streets identified as "underutilized" during the day.

"They keep telling us that they're working on getting permits for employees," says Pamela Stollings, who is Jolianne's boss at the UnUrban. "We keep hearing rumors about that."

"It sucks to know that you pay taxes and can't even park (on the street) at your business," she says

But resident Paul Clarke takes a different view. Clarke says it’s hard enough to find parking in his neighborhood, even with its residents-only permits. He would be "unhappy" if the nearby businesses on Pico were allowed to add to his parking woes.

"Businesses should have their own parking," says Clarke, who lives near Pico and 11th.

***

Business parking on Pico has been "a continuing problem, especially in areas around the college," says Gwen Pentecost, senior administrative analyst for the City’s Economic Development Division. Businesses, she said, face the choice of either don't grow or move.

The idea of employee day-use permits first came up eight or nine years ago, although it hasn't been discussed "that long at the City level," Pentecost says.

In 2001 the City Council shot down a recommendation to allow limited employee parking in a newly created preferential parking zone in the North East section of the City, but asked staff to look into the issue further.

Two years later, the City’s Transportation Division issued a report that included recommendations for employee day-use permits in a number of areas, according to City Transportation Manager Lucy Dyke. But the council, Dyke says, wanted staff to go back and study the issue again on a "case by case" basis.

"It's been a challenge," says Dyke, noting that underground parking would solve a lot of the problem, but "people like the small shops, especially on Montana, but also on Pico and Ocean Park," and don't want to see them torn down for redevelopment.

One of those small shops is Undercar Parts on Pico near Lincoln Boulevard, where owner Sean Shaah says he needs the seven parking spaces behind his store for customers and deliveries. Five of his employees, he says, usually park a few blocks away around Grant Street, one of the few nearby streets without preferential parking.

Over on Grant Street, a young woman in a silver Audi pulls into the last parking space on the block. "It's always hard to find a place to park, always a hassle," she says, adding that many employees from the local businesses park on her street.

"We were told by the landlord that it (the street) was supposed to go permit only, but that was eight months ago," she says. "That would be great if it happened. Then we wouldn't have to look for a place to park."

Last November, the City council came under attack when it approved recommendations by the East West Commercial Corridor Parking Task Force -- a council appointed committee -- that included recommendations for limited employee parking on some residential streets.

Angry letters were printed in local newspapers and pamphlets were distributed accusing two council members -- who were up for reelection-- of wanting to take away the residents' preferential parking.

"It was a bit of an election issue," said Council member Richard Bloom, who added that "there has been some misrepresentation" of the council's action.

City officials expect the matter to come before council again, but say they don't know when that will be.

Former mayor Michael Feinstein –- one of the council members targeted during his unsuccessful reelection bid for supporting employee permits -- believes it takes time to come up with a pilot program that's practical and fair.

"Even though many people agree on the concept, implementation is full of small, but important details," Feinstein says.

Not only does it take time to identify residential areas with enough empty spaces to test the program, Feinstein says, but the City must determine “what are the nearby small businesses and which ones should qualify? Who has parking shortages and why?

“It's not surprising that staff wants to take its time and do it right," Feinstein says.

***

Susan McDonough of the Pico Improvement Organization -- an association created by the City to represent the Pico merchants -- did not comment on the issue of employee permits, but says that the group has been "exploring several options to improve business parking in the area."

In the past two years McDonough says her organization has created an additional 40 spaces on the street and has worked out deals with businesses that have parking lots to share their space with neighbors.

But McDonough says there's still much work to be done.

"Every time we survey, parking is the number one issue among businesses," she says. "The businesses are hurting."

Pico Neighborhood resident Paul Collins, who is conducting a parking survey for the PIO, estimates that an average of three additional employee parking spaces are needed for each of the 63 businesses he's talked to so far this year.

"Parking is on everybody's mind in Santa Monica," says Collins, who supports the idea of employee parking permits. "That would relieve a lot of stress on merchants."

One of those who Collins interviewed is Robert Sakamoto, who says his employees at Airport Pharmacy often have to stop work to move their cars when he needs them the most.

"It's crazy, it's time consuming," Sakamoto says, adding that he understands that his employees can't afford to get parking tickets.

Sakamoto says he would love to see his employees get parking permits.

Although it is not clear when -- if ever -- a pilot program will be put in place, City officials stress that studies would first be conducted to determine where the policy will have the most benefit without negatively impacting residents. Then, a public discussion will take place before any action is taken.

"Council is clear that they don't want to let employees park wherever they want," said transportation manager Dyke.

There are “limited areas where you could recommend employee permit parking," she says. "In some places there's just no room."

Meanwhile, back at MacCabes, someone has just told Jack Lopez that a Santa Monica parking ticket is $47.

"No way!" he says. "I better go move my car."